News that a Chinese real estate firm is planning a large development project in Nova Scotia’s Guysborough County is being met with cautious optimism in the area.
Dongdu International Group of Shanghai has purchased 1,200 hectares of forest land in the community of Port Hilford. The company plans to set up 500 to 1,000 vacation property units for high-income Chinese tourists.
The project has created a lot of buzz in the community.
“We suffer outmigration like all other rural areas of the province and if they’re going to bring that many people and build that many homes, it’s going to be a real benefit for us,” says David Clark, deputy warden for the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s.
“It’s profound. We drive by it every day, we don’t recognize it,” says Clark. “We have something here that they don’t have in China.”
Company officials have said their main focus is promoting clean, green, and pristine tourism in rural Nova Scotia.
People in the community are hoping that might translate into positive economic development.
“Well, any development is good, of course, in this area,” says resident John Scott. “We can use anything we can get.”
“I think it’s a great thing, I’m hoping a lot of our kids from out west can come back home and go to work,” says resident Bob Robinson.
But others in the community are a little more hesitant to see a major development project in their backyard.
“As one of my neighbours just said, I wouldn’t want Disneyland in my backyard,” says resident Victoria Lambourne.
Clark says Dongdu International has started to file applications to develop the property.
He says once those applications are filed, the municipality will begin its process of evaluating the project.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
